"AHHHHHHHHH!" Brent exclaimed, and he ran into something hard and pretty much tumbled back onto the floor. PERFECT. He knew it was too good to be true that he could just cannon ball back through the portal and be safe and sound. He tried to scramble off the floor before anyone caught sight of him falling back into the unknown.

Right where he had been before...

...with the shadowy, snarling whatever-it-was. "HELPPPPPPPP!" he yelled, joining Ace in the fight to save their lives. The others were coming, so he stopped banging and stepped back for a bit. He DID have a small amount of dignity left in him to try and play it cool. Something must have happened just then, because the very same portal that had been blocked a minute ago was the same portal Leon was now sticking his arm through. There was NO WAY Brent was wasting any time.

"Don't have to ask me twice," he said, and then he pushed himself through the portal and hopefully back to safety.

"Wait for us!" Kitty squealed from the back of the crowd of running students. The snarling sound wax coming closer and closer, and she felt as if any moment some terrible monster was going to jump down on them and rip them to pieces. She hadn't felt this terrified since Ursula Black had thrown her and Brody into a pot and tried to cook them alive.

Up ahead students were crashing into what looked like an invisible wall. But before she could despair, Olivia stuck her arm through and Leon was shoving people.

She stumbled at the entrance, but it was okay because Leon pushed her through, and before she knew it she was falling back through the portal and back into the real Hogwarts.

So they could get through? At Leon's words, Olivia nodded and pushed her hand a little further as she stepped into the portal. Then she took her hand out and watched as Brent and Kitty ran through the portal. Right. She looked back to Carlton, Leon, Carl, Zoryn, and Tenacius. They were coming right? She was about to ask them if they needed help but Leon's words ran through her head. Right.

She reached out to grab Tenacius' hand just in case for some reason the monster was following. "Come on!" she said and then lost her balance, tripping into the portal and losing her grip on him. Tenacius!! He'd be okay, right? Just her luck. Where she would end up was a question indeed that she did not know.

Carlton was being carried away by a Hufflepuff boy he hadn't met before. He looked back to the snarling sound and made grabby hands.

"Bye creature..." He murmured, waving one hand at it. He'd remember to tell professor Hernandez about this as soon as he could. For now, he was satisfied with being carried.

He wiggled his legs in the air as the older Hufflepuff student struggled to carry him back to the portal. Carlton didn't have a care in the world.

Until he was put down. Pout.

Carlton debated on giving the creature another try but when he saw both Olivia and Brent walk through the portal he decided not to.

"BEEPBOOPBEEPBOOPBEEPBOOP!" He ran after the others, head bent down, hoping for the best. Up, up and away through the portal!

And that was four of them..

Leon was still getting rather nervous about the last three, Carl, The Prefect and Zoryn!

"Come on guys!" Leon said as he looked over his shoulder.. He was second away from pushing them all in and jumping in himself! That shadowy thingy was getting close and Leon was getting colder and colder by the second!

"You all have sixty seconds before I haul you all with me... and you can yell or thank me later. " He said as he bit this lip..

Merlin.. he just wanted to grab hands and haul everyone away from this terrifying place!

....
..........

The shadow was getting closer and Leon knew they barely even had sixty seconds! So he made a choice, people might now be happy with it or him.. but he wanted to get out of here and he wasn't leaving people behind! That's not how it worked.

He grabbed a hold of the Gryffindor Prefecfs hand, he still had a hold of Zoryn thankfully and then with his other hand.. he grabbed a hold of Carl and pushed them through the portal before him!

Once he was sure everyone was out of here.. Leon sped through the portal and jumped in! He was out of here!

And before she knew it she was being LIFTED.

Oh hi Tenacius. What’s up?!

This made it a lot easier to catch all the floaties too!! Because Tenacius was running she could just grab a whole bunch IT WAS AWESO— aw man. She was set down again. Man. That’s no fun. Before she could run off though, she was being pulled along.

Dang it.

BUT SHE WANTED TO STAY AND CATCH THE SPORE THINGS FOR HER NEW COLLECTION!!!!!!!

She kept as many as she could in her hand that WASN’T the one her Prefect was now holding and tried to move her feet as fast as they’d go because she was being FORCED to run through the portal again.

Sigh.

She’d come back for more later.

And with that she made it through the portal.

Nothing about this situation made sense.

She'd tried to follow the voices, but she felt somehow turned around in the familiar corridors and whatever the reason, she still hadn't caught them up. Maybe that was just as well; she still didn't know if they were just other students, or something more sinister. She shouldn't have any reason to think anything sinister would be in Hogwarts, of course: except that everything about this situation just screamed "horror film" and she'd just passed a pile of what she was fairly sure were human bones just around the last bend. So that was some cause for alarm.

And now the voices sounded like they were behind her... so they must have just missed each other in different corridors. She didn't know what was going on, but a strong sense of self-preservation suggested that she might be better off out of here. Swallowing nervously, she turned in the corridor, somehow afraid to let her footsteps sound too loudly through the empty castle, and began to retrace her steps towards the portal. She didn't get too far, though, before another sound made her stop dead in her tracks.

Some kind of... growl?

Logic would dictate that she should make back for the portal as fast as she possibly could... except that it sounded like it was coming from somewhere in between where she stood now and where the voices were coming from, now raised in panicked shouts. This probably couldn't get any worse. And while she'd like to think she was rather advanced for a witch of her age, the more realistic part of her couldn't help but feel that expelliarmus might not suffice against something which had already killed a person.

Somehow, that thought shocked her- despite having seen the bones, she hadn't quite considered it in such bold terms before- and she was spurred back into action. Thank goodness she'd never lit her wand; she didn't want to attract any more attention than she needed to. She tried not to run, not wanting the sound of her feet to give her away- but even with her eyes wide open she couldn't see much in the gloom and she found herself moving faster and faster as she tried to make it back up to the portal, praying she wouldn't meet whatever this creature was along the way.

OOC: Sorry, life's been hectic so I never had a chance to join Sinead up with the others and not sure what's the portal/creature situ now?! Hoping this is okay!

The humans' scent was getting stronger and stronger, their voices louder and louder. Saliva trickled down its sharp teeth and down its chin. It was looking forward to the feast that had so foolishly entered its realm. The young ones were definitely going to be more tender than the old man that it had indulged in weeks before.

Suddenly the scent went cold and the voices were no more. The humans had escaped. It let out a loud shriek in anger before sulking back deeper into the cold, dark castle.

As the real Hogwarts grew darker and colder every day, so did the alternate Hogwarts. Frost-like fungi has grown on the tendrils and membrane that covers everything from the walls, the floor, and everything in between. Outside the castle walls, spores fall heavily from the sky like snow. The temperature is much colder, though it is difficult to see ones breath in the darkness...

Your unexpected journey starts where it began in the real world: the wooden bridge on the grounds. The portal that brought you here is no more. Do you stay here with the hope it'll come back? Or dare you venture inside the castle to the portal on the sixth floor?

Etta had heard the bridge creak and before she could even wonder what that was, there was a bright light.... and a portal?? An expression of utter disbelief spread across her face. What was HAPPENING? Was someone kidnapping her? But, why would someone even want to kidnap HER? Or Junia? That made no sense. Random and silly thoughts kept popping into her head.... because she was scared and was unable to think clearly. AHHH THIS WAS FREAKING CRAZY. She was about to grab Junia's hand and RUN but ----------- she was being sucked into the portal.

OHMYGOSH.

OHMYGOSH.

NOOOOOOOOO!" Etta screamed loudly.... and continued screaming, feeling absolutely terrified. She hoped someone had heard her at the very least.. but it was late and there had been no one around them at the bridge. Would someone at school even discover their absence?!

.... The girl abruptly turned quiet when she found herself standing on the familiar wooden bridge again. Huh. But it was different somehow. It felt different.. and so eerily quiet. The portal had vanished, too.

"Junia?" Etta took deep breaths, brushing a stray tear from her cheek. She pulled out her wand, carefully scanning the darkness around her for any dangers before calling out her friend's name again. "Junia, you alright?"

WHAT ON EARTH WAS HAPPENING? Etta didn't understand at ALL.

Junia had screamed out in protest the moment Etta was pulled away from her, only to find herself being pulled by something as well. She yelled and yelled until her throat was sore, only to come up on her hands and knees on the same bridge where she'd started. Or...was it the same? Her eyes widened and she scrambled to her feet, going for her wand. It was then that she heard the Hufflepuff. Oh thank Merlin, she was okay!

"Etta, I'm here." Her voice was quiet, nervous even. She wouldn't admit it out loud, but she was scared. "What's going on? What was that?" She had more questions, too, but for now she would focus on those.

Spores continue to fall down on you and your surrounding area, but not in the elegant way that snowflakes would. It seemed to be getting colder and colder the longer you stand outside. There was something about the place that didn't seem to have a shred of warmth about it whatsoever.

It is then, through the hushed voices, that you hear the sound of a distant rumbling coming from within the castle itself...

Dare you go to explore?

Oh, thank goodness. Etta felt relieved when she heard the other girl respond. As for her questions--- the girl squinted, hoping she could make out something... anything.. in the dark but nope. "I don't know! It doesn't make sense.." Etta replied with frustration. What now?

The Hufflepuff just stood there for a few moments, unsure whether to move. Who knew what was lurking nearby? Etta shivered slightly at the thought. But, they had to find a way out. Right?

--------- GULP. What was that SOUND? Was that a--monster of some kind? A beast? Was something out to get them? "Did you hear that?" Etta asked, hoping she didn't sound as panicked as she felt. "We should start moving, don't you think?"

Yes, Junia had heard the sound and she jumped, scared and worried and wanting her big sister. If Rula was here she'd know what to do, she always did. She also wasn't convinced they should go anywhere. If something or someone was out there, shouldn't they stay in one spot and prepare, let whatever it was attack them on their own terms? ...Merlin, she did not like this. Still, if Etta wanted to go and Junia stayed, she'd be alone, and there was power in numbers..."Okay, let's go." But first she lit her wand and linked her free arm through Etta's.

"Let's just get back to the castle, okay? As fast as we can."

The light from the wand was enough to shed some light on the surrounding area. There was an odd blueish green hue about the place that was only made worse by all the fungi. Tendrils had wrapped itself around the bridge and ground like vines, showing only a tiny hint of life with the way it writhed. Those closest to you seemed to writhe even more, as if they could almost sense a presence...

Meanwhile, the rumbling at the castle continued. In fact, it seemed to have grown louder...

Etta kept taking deep breaths, hoping it would calm her down and help her think CLEARLY. She couldn't come up with many options, though. Option one - They wander around to check if there was a way out of there. Option two - They stay on the bridge and just wait. ... Somehow, option one seemed better. She just hoped that she wouldn't regret this decision later..

The girl nodded and huddled close to Junia, her wand held ready. She remained quiet for a few moments, silently looking at her surroundings, prepared for anything that might jump at them from the darkness.

---- UMM. What was this now?!?! ".... they seem to be moving on their own..." Etta mumbled, her eyes drifting down to stare at the creepy-looking tendrils on the ground with horror. They almost looked like snakes. How.. what... Be strong, Etta. She forced herself to look up and straight ahead, hoping they'd reach the castle soon.

Breathe in the flowers, blow out the candles...breathe in the flowers, blow out the candles...breathe in the flowers, blow out the-

Moving on their own? Junia glanced at the Hufflepuff beside her before training her eyes on the tendrils and oh. OH. "I really hope they're part of a plant and not a..thing." An alive thing with sharp teeth and claws that liked to eat little girls type thing. She was not going to die today, okay? ...Hopefully.

That rumbling, though? She didn't love that. Sounded like a hungry monster's stomach to her and with the atmosphere, she felt a bit like the star of one of those scary muggle films.

"I think I see it, the castle." PAUSE. "Hear it, too. Etta, what is that?"

Up up up you go.

Up

up

up.

Up into the castle….if the students want to escape, they better head to the sixth floor…isn’t there a portal there?

The noises, mysterious and ominous, seem to not only follow the students but also appear in different directions. Behind them, in front of them…echoing around them. Tendrils slithered behind them as they walked, but if the girls were to turn around, there would be no movement in sight.

Hurry, girls.

Hurry before it’s too late.

SPOILER!!: Junia

Quote:

Originally Posted by TakemetotheBurrow

Breathe in the flowers, blow out the candles...breathe in the flowers, blow out the candles...breathe in the flowers, blow out the-

Moving on their own? Junia glanced at the Hufflepuff beside her before training her eyes on the tendrils and oh. OH. "I really hope they're part of a plant and not a..thing." An alive thing with sharp teeth and claws that liked to eat little girls type thing. She was not going to die today, okay? ...Hopefully.

That rumbling, though? She didn't love that. Sounded like a hungry monster's stomach to her and with the atmosphere, she felt a bit like the star of one of those scary muggle films.

"I think I see it, the castle." PAUSE. "Hear it, too. Etta, what is that?"

"Well, if they're part of a thing, we should be able to see the... thing right?" Etta asked, hoping the fear didn't reflect in her voice. Even though she tried to be as brave as possible, the panic was really starting to get to her. Could they even find a way to escape?

That creepy rumbling sound seemed to have grown even louder now. What the heck was that, really? ---- "Sounds like a hungry monster to me. I guess it's trying to scare us or something."

And suddenly she could hear other noises too. Faint, rustling noises. She abruptly turned around and raised her lit wand to check if a monster anything was following them.. didn't seem like it, though. "Come on." She whispered, starting to hurry towards the castle once again. They were almost there..

Keeping still didn't seem like a wise option what with the noises coming from every which way. How was that possible and also, why were they here? Why them? Why HER? She was mostly good and usually listened to her parents and was always always kind to her friends. She didn't deserve THIS. Hogwarts was not treating her so well this term.

Once inside, the third year continued to be overwhelmed by the feeling that something was alive-the monster, if you will-and Etta was on the same page. If it was trying to scare them, it was doing a good job of it. Junia's fight or flight instincts were kicking in and flight was her choice right now.

"Let's keep moving. The stairs aren't my favorite, but anything is better than here, and if something was outside, I want to get far away from it." She kept close to the Hufflepuff and started climbing, wand held tightly in her hand. She couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched, but she refused to let it stop her from putting some distance between themselves and the door.

UP! UP! UP!

Up, up, up...

While the girls moved around the castle, the staircases moved every which way. But there was a creaking motion with these staircases, adding an unsettling feeling to the already ominous sounds surrounding them.

Then, after what seems like the hundredth staircase, a light appears on the sixth floor. A luminous bright white light that shone like a beacon of hope, an escape...

It also shone down on a set of tentacles right behind the girls. Tentacles that were bigger, uglier, slimier than the tendrils surrounding it but ones that moved all the same. Its body was hidden in shadow but that didn't stop the tentacles reaching out towards the girls, hoping to grab them for its dinner...

...

When the girls were close enough to the bright white light, it swallowed them up and spat them out onto the sixth floor of a tendril- and tentacle-free Hogwarts on an entirely different day. A journey that may have felt like an hour or two in here actually took 24 hours out of their lives.

Etta climbed the staircases, trying to ignore all the weird-sounding noises that seemed to be surrounding them wherever they went. It was as if the monster was following them... or maybe there was more than one monster. EEEEEP.

.... and the stairs seemed to be never-ending. It didn't look like there was a way to escape at all. "Well, I don't see anything here so..." Please. Let them find a way to go back, please. She could feel the tears pricking at her tears again but Etta refused to cry. Ugh, no. Not now.

At one point, when Etta felt like just giving up, she noticed something. Something that could help them escape. A portal, she thought. "Junia, look!" She almost shouted, starting to run. FINALLY! They could go back! Wait, would it take them back to the original Hogwarts? Or someplace else? That was a risk they had to take, though.

They were almost there, very close to the light now, when Etta noticed something gross-looking. What the heck was that? Those... tentacles seemed to reaching out for them. WAIT. ------ WAS THAT THE MONSTER? "Watch out!" The Hufflepuff grabbed Junia's hand and ran faster. Well, dear monster. You don't get to eat them. Nope.

....... and they jumped into the light.

...the light that Junia couldn't have been more thankful for.

Hogwarts was not her favorite right now, but at least this was better than being eaten!

Just when it thought it could take a victim, grab a juicy snack to feast on, the girls were gone. Disappeared. It let out a shriek of anger before slinking back into the shadows...

...

Meanwhile, three boys are going to start their journey in the alternate Hogwarts. Each appear, together, on a patchy part of the grounds in between the Lake and the castle itself. Tendrils line this area of the grounds as well, with tiny spores falling from the sky. With the portal that brought them here now gone, darkness presses in on the boys from all sides...

Dare you go into the castle to continue the journey? There's a portal on the sixth floor that might help you, if you make it there...

Henry had no idea what was going on. One moment he was getting a surprise kitten for his birthday from Charlotte, then next he was being sucked into some sort of hole with a blinding light. And with a startled shout from the boy, the hole seemed to spit him out unceremoniously onto the ground... somewhere else? Just where was he?

He hadn't landed very gracefully and he picked himself up off the ground as he looked around in confusion. It kinda looked like the grounds of Hogwarts, but.. dark and what was falling out of the sky? And more importantly, had Char been sucked into that weird hole thing too? The last he saw of her was at the table, but he couldn't know if she was still there or.. here? Wherever here was.

AND WHAT WAS ON THE GROUND? Henry jumped back a little as he noticed tendrils along the ground. Those were creepy as hell. Feeling a panic rise in his chest, he gripped his wand as his eyes searched the immediate vicinity, keeping an eye on the tendrils so they didn't wrap around his leg or something equally terrible. "Charlotte?" he called out, making sure that she hadn't been sucked into this place after him. He didn't see or hear anyone. But somehow he did not feel alone.